The present invention relates to jewelry clasps and, more particularly, to a clasp for coupling the ends or extending the length of jewelry chains.
Loss of jewelry chains and of other types of jewelry utilizing chains is a fairly common occurrence which is generally caused by the failure of conventional clasps employed at the ends of such chains.
Frequently, individuals may seek to combine individual jewelry chains to obtain a desired visual impact or appearance. In one method of attachment, the individual utilizes the primary catch of each chain as the attachment point, and a failure of either primary catch, will result in potential loss of the combined chains. In some instances, a separate device has been employed to connect one jewelry chain to an adjacent chain to provide a fixed separation between chains and to secure the adjacent chains. Some of these devices have functioned as clamps which extend across the adjacent jewelry chains to secure them in spaced assembly. Although such a clamp device secures the adjacent chains, they are generally awkward to apply and difficult to adjust to different size chains worn simultaneously. xe2x80x9cSafety pinxe2x80x9d type devices have been used to support a single piece of jewelry on an article of clothing, However, these devices do not perform any safety-related function and are susceptible to failure if the spring leg opens.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel clasp for coupling multiple jewelry chains and the like which is easy to assemble to the chains and provides a high degree of security.
It is also an object to provide such a clasp which can be fabricated readily and which is relatively long lived.
Another object is to provide such a clasp which may be fabricated relatively economically from precious metal to provide an attractive appearance.
A further object is to provide such a clasp which can be used to extend the effective length of a jewelry chain.
It has now been found that the foregoing and related objectives may be readily attained in a jewelry clasp comprising first and second elongated legs and a receptor at one end of the first leg which provides a pair of spaced side walls forming a channel-shaped recess for receiving the adjacent end of the second leg. The recess is dimensioned to seat the adjacent end of the second leg snugly, and at least one of the side walls has a portion projecting towards the other of the side walls to provide a restriction in the channel-shaped recess to reduce the width of the recess to less than the width of the second leg. At least one of the side walls flexes as the second leg is pressed against the projecting portion to allow the second leg to pass thereby, and the second leg is retained in the recess by the projecting portion. The clasp also has means connecting the other ends of the first and second legs.
Preferably, one of the side walls of the receptor is of greater length than the other end and has its outer end bent over the other of the side walls to provide a restricted lateral opening into the channel-shaped recess through which the second leg may be introduced.
The legs are desirably integrally formed with a spring coiled portion at the other end thereof and it biases the one end of the second leg towards the first leg and the receptor. The flexing of the at least one side wall of the receptor to permit the second leg to pass by the projecting portion produces an audible clicking sound.
The clasp is easily used to provide a jewelry assembly with at least two elongated chains each having elements providing passages therethrough and the clasp has first and second elongated legs extending in spaced relationship with one leg extending through the passages in elements in each of the chains, whereby the chains are retained on the second leg between the receptor and the connecting means. Usually, the elements in the chains comprise loops at the ends thereof.